38 that cot," she says. "And there weren't any sheets. Don't you even have sheets for it?" Kate stares up at him, her smile looking stiff on her face. He glances at the sticker on the refrigerator and pretends to read it. "W e got a deal on that," Kate says. "You wouldn't believe how much money we've spent in the past few d " ays. There is a long silence then, and Arthur can almost feel Kate straining for something to say. He is trying to think of a way to leave the room. "Where's Melissa?" he asks finally. "She's with Ted," Kate says. "They're picking up the dog at the " vet. "Dog ?" "Her roommate bought her a dog. Ted and I are paying to get him fixed." " F . d ?" Ixe . "Castrated," she says. "He had a little hormone problem." She smiles at Arthur. "Do you want a beer?" she asks. "We bought some beer." He shakes his head. "I should go h " c ange. "Well, when you come down, then." "How is she?" Arthur asks. "Melissa? She's fine. The same. You know." Kate's face looks tired when she says this. She rolls her beer can between her palms and stares down . " Q ." h " W . h at Its top. uIet, s e says. It - drawn." Melissa had been overweight as a .rr ð child, all the way through her junior year of high school. Her classmates, even her friends at times, had been cruel to her, and this had made her bitter and secretive. In high school she hadn't had a single date. She had begun to lose weight her senior year, and had continued to do so after going off to college, so that now she is as thin as her mother, and she runs every morning. But Arthur read in a maga- zine on an airplane that most people form their physical self-images during puberty and maintain those images for the rest of their lives, even if their bodies change. Arthur believes that this is what Melissa has done, and that even now, thin and healthy, she thinks of herself as fat, clumsy, and ugly. "She'll grow out of it," he says. "Do you think so?" Kate asks. Arthur shrugs, and there is another silence. " y , d .. 11 " K our coat s rIppIng a over, ate says finally, standing up to get a dish towel from the counter. When she stoops down at his feet to wipe up the little puddle, Arthur's hands want to touch her hair, but they stay in front of him instead, gripping the damp coat until she rises and returns to her seat and he goes upstairs to change. B y the time Arthur comes back downstairs, Melissa and Ted have already returned from the veterinar- ian Kate and Ted are in the kitchen, putting dinner on the table. Melissa is I I II f)jJ7 7YJTl ! I ( I - r ) i I I J J I h JUNE 15, 1992 sitting in the family room, in one of Arthur's lawn chairs, watching a game show on his little TV. "Hello," she says when Arthur enters the room Arthur notices with a shock that her hair, formerly long and brown like her mother's, has been cut short and dyed a deep, reddish orange. Melissa has the same long, narrow face, the same high cheekbones and dark-brown eyes, but the new hair changes all of it, alters dramatically her whole appear- ance-seems to transform her, almost, into another person. Arthur has to force himself not to stare There is a dog lying at her feet, a black Lab. He picks up his head when Arthur approaches, blinks in Arthur's general direction, and then suddenly, without warning, shuts his eyes and drops his head with a thud back to the wooden floor. Arthur stares down at the dog. It doesn't move. "Is he all right?" he asks. Melissa nods, her eyes on the TV. "It's the anesthesia. He's still a little " groggy. Arthur stoops down and scratches the dog's head. "What's his name?" he as ks. "Boomer." "That's a nice name." Melissa nods but doesn't say any- thing. The sound of applause comes from the TV, tinny and muted. Arthur sits there, crouched beside her, his hand resting on the sleeping dog's bony head. He tries to think of something to say, but can't; his mind is blank. So he just gets up and walks into the kitchen without a word. The kitchen is full of activity. Kate is by the sink, washing lettuce; Ted is at the table, setting out the place- mats and utensils. The placemats are brand-new. Ted looks younger than Arthur had remembered, and Kate does, too, with her hair tied back in a ponytail. They're both dressed in jeans and sweatshirts, Kate in one of Arthur's old ones, and they make him feel strangely old, as if they were his children returned home for a holiday. N either of them notices him for a moment. He stands in the doorway, hesitant, like a guest, wondering if he should offer to help. Finally Ted looks up at him, and the two of them stand there for a second, ten feet apart,